Universal McCann Wins Clorox Digital Business

Clorox has given U.S. digital media duties to Interpublic-owned Universal McCann.

Among Clorox’s brands are its eponymous bleach and cleaning products, its related Green Works products, Pine-Sol cleaners, Fresh Step cat litter, Kingsford charcoal, Brita filters, Glad bags, and others. In 2010, Kantar Media estimates the company spent $3.8 million on Internet display media for Clorox, $4.4 million for Kingsford, and $769,000 for Green Works.

The company’s digital strategy often blends big-reach buys with custom sponsorships. Last month, It became one of the first brands to offer Facebook Credits in exchange for video ad views as part of a new program. It also recently signed on as the first sponsor of Federated Media Publishing’s DailyBuzz Moms, which offers content for moms. Hidden Valley was the first of its brands to show up there.

Clorox is based in Oakland, CA. Universal McCann will handle the business out of its San Francisco office, led by Greg Pomaro, UM SVP, client business partner. Its fiscal year 2010 revenues were $5.2 billion.

The company is going to greater lengths to emphasize its eco-lifestyle credentials. This week it detailed plans for a mobile app and website that lets consumers access product ingredient information from their phones while they shop. Smart phone owners with the app installed will be able to scan a product UPC code to see an ingredient list.

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GroupM predicts that global ad spend will top $547 billion next year, up from $524 billion this year. While television will still capture the biggest share of that 12-figure pie (41%), digital's share will grow from 31% to 33%.